higashidakota t1_j4epn94 wrote on January 15, 2023 at 4:29 AM

Reply to comment by xXijanlinXx in How do we know oxygen, and not another element, is the third most abundant element in the universe? by ChickFleih

Also good to note it’s a logarithmic scale, ie two elements that are one unit apart from another means that one is 10x more abundant

higashidakota t1_j4dv8ys wrote on January 15, 2023 at 12:41 AM

Reply to How do we know oxygen, and not another element, is the third most abundant element in the universe? by ChickFleih

Just wanna point something out about Fluorine (not fluoride :p)

You’ll find that the even numbered elements tend to be far more abundant than the odd numbered elements. It’s because of the way massive stars use Helium as the basic building blocks of the elements. They can H to He, He to C, start fusing He and C to make O, He and O can make Ne, C and C can make Mg, O and O can make Si ..,

When you start with Helium, which has an atomic number of 2, and you fuse them you get 4, fuse more you can end up with 6, 8, 10, 12 etc, massive stars keep fusing heavier elements and use Helium , and it leaves us with an abundance of even numbered elements. About 10x more than the odd numbered (besides Hydrogen)